6 October 1962 · Tunnels · Treptow and Neukölln
The Second Heidelberger Krug Tunnel to Elsenstraße
A second tunnel from the Heidelberger Krug pub brought a tailor couple to the West in their pyjamas, but an informer tipped off the Stasi within hours and an escape helper was shot and captured.
In September 1962 the Harry Seidel group returned to the cellar of the Heidelberger Krug pub. About 20 metres of the earlier Whitsun tunnel could be reused; from there a new section was dug towards Elsenstraße. When the intended cellar owner refused, the helpers found a tailor couple in Elsenstraße 86 who agreed to the plan.
At 4 a.m. on 6 October 1962 Seidel broke through the foundation wall. The tailor and his wife fled through the tunnel at once, still in their pyjamas. Around 6 a.m. two other helpers, armed with the submachine guns, took over the watch in the flat.
Hours earlier, the Stasi informer 'Hardy', who organised couriers for the Girrmann group, had passed on what he knew. Stasi officers traced the tailor's flat; when the agreed doorbell signal was given and the door opened, one helper was shot through the door, wounded in the thigh and arrested, while the second escaped. The tunnel was destroyed on 9 October.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from historical research only.
Historians and memorials
- Tunnel Heidelberger Straße 28 – Der 2. TunnelTF-Mapping (Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, Humboldt-Universität Berlin)
- Gedenktafel für Heinz Jercha, Opfer der Berliner Mauer (plaque text mentions the October 1962 shooting)Museen Treptow-Köpenick / berlin.de
- Bericht der West-Berliner Schutzpolizei über die Lage an der Sektoren- und Zonengrenze, Vorkommnisse auf S- und Reichsbahngelände und sonstige Ereignisse von politischer Bedeutung für den Monat Oktober 1962 [Auszug]Chronik der Mauer (document: Polizeihistorische Sammlung des Polizeipräsidenten in Berlin)
Facts checked against the sources: October 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “The Second Heidelberger Krug Tunnel to Elsenstraße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/elsenstrasse-tunnel-1962/ (accessed [date]).
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